PAME expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the 5 workers who were killed at dawn in the town of Brandizzo, near Turin, during maintenance work on the railway line.

We express to our colleagues, the workers of Italy and the USB trade union our deep sorrow and enormous anger at the loss of 5 more workers, new victims of the abolishment of safety and protection measures at work.

As the USB trade union noted in its statement, this new employer crime “is yet another episode in an already written story of contracting out, privatization, non-compliance with safety regulations, increased work rhythms, and staff reductions. The result is workplace killings, today five bodies dismembered by a train passing at 160 km/h that stopped a kilometer after running over the workers. We want those who put workers’ lives at risk to pay with severe penalties for their crime. We want full protection for workers who report health and safety omissions. To protest this umpteenth demonstration of a criminal lowering of labor protections USb is calling a 24-hour national strike of all railroad workers starting at 3:36 p.m. today.”

The same policy of privatisation and commercialisation of transport has been stained with the blood of passengers and transport workers in Greece, with the recent deadly crime in Tempe, but also throughout Europe.

In the face of policies that sacrifice the lives of peoples for the profits of the few, we respond with mass organisation and action. With solidarity and escalation of our struggles in every country.

We stand in solidarity with our colleagues, the workers of Italy and the USB trade union and in their militant mobilisations to protect their lives and rights, to make those responsible for this new crime pay.